I AM BACK......

My dear blog readers...So sorry for taking so long to update again BUT I have to get myself sorted again and this took some time. As I arrived in Dubai Hannes put the next set of airline tickets in my hand. He had planned a surprise tip to Jordan for 5 days for the 2 of us. I WAS STUNNED AND EXCITED. Another reason for taking so long to blog is that Hannes has so much time off. I am not complaining as this is why we are here BUT I have to do all my work (washing ironing cleaning) when he is at work for us to have time together to do the "lekker stuff"
Now as I do not have a "Rita or Promise" here in Dubai it took some planning to have all the washing done after my arrival and add to that our five days washing from Jordan. I have to tell you I am now getting it done at the speed of light. To top it all Hannes worked 3 days after Jordan and now has 3 days off again...
OK I think I have apologised and grovelled enough..... You will need lots of coffee and smokes for this one.
Here goes.
We left Dubai at 05h15 in the morning to catch our flight to Amaan in Jordan. Hannes wanted to see Petra and in the end we did a 5 day trip with the bible history also in the itinerary. We flew to Amaan with Jordan Airline and what a pleasure it was. Hannes had arranged for "limo" service to fetch us from the apartment as well. Now anything here other than a Camry is a limo...... None the less very nice not to drive and park the car at the airport. There is a 2 hour time difference between Dubai and Jordan so I was massively confused as from Mauritius I had a time difference and then again in Jordan. I just went with the flow of what the time was although my body was screaming a different agenda at times...... I would fall asleep shortly after breakfast in the car while travelling to the disgust of our driver/baby sitter. I was then woken immediately by Mohammed (our personal driver/ baby sitter for the 5 days) and Hannes.
On arrival in Amaan Hannes and I had the early evening and night at free leisure. I should have known better as to trust hannes with his little walks........This man is a lunatic with very very long legs....
CITY OF AMAAN IN JORDAN.

As this photo shows Jordan is built over 7 hills (They call it mountains....) Now Hannes saw the Citadell in Amaan ( a roman city of the year "voertsek") was near to our hotel....... We walked and walked uphill and down hill and reached it eventually. Now please bear in mind Hannes reads real books and remembers history, I read the Heat, Huisgenoot,OK, hello and any magazine for sale. So Jordan to me was the country of Queen Rania.....to Hannes Roman and Naebetean Times and lots of history. I wander down the street with him looking at the people and what they wear and he looks at the map of how far to the Citadel etc. What a pair we make..... between the two of us we get the full picture he knows where it comes from and I know what's happening now.
Ok we visited the citadell and saw lots of big ruins and I opted for a taxi ride home instead of walking those hills again.
Our taxi driver suggested Hannes takes a "Turkish bath" while in Amaan. So off we go. This is where the men recline on big stone slabs and some other big man comes and scrubs the living daylights out of you....... You also have a massage afterwards. Looks so nice on the photo's and in movies.......Hannes left after half the treatment. he was not impressed. He also had a bad skin rash afterwards. I think it was where his skin was scrubbed off...........
The people of Jordan are very very friendly and every where you walk they will all say "hello and welcome to Jordan" A very easy and safe destination. Most of the Jordanians also speak English and the ladies wear western clothes in the street if they want.
We had a good sleep.

NEXT DAY
MOHAMMED "DRESSING" ME FOR A VISIT TO A MOSQUE...

Mohammed (our personal driver and babysitter) is a Bedouin by birth so he did the head scarf (sheila) as the Bedouin woman will wear it. I had to be covered and Hannes was not allowed in the Mosque as he had shorts on.

HANNES IN HIS GUT RA AND AG HAL (MENS HEAD GEAR) HE WAS AL DRESSED UP AND NOWHERE TO GO.......................

QUANAFA

After the visit to the Mosque Mohammed took us to this tiny shop where the best Quanafa is sold. It is a quick snack for anytime of the day. (Middle tray) This is apparently the best one in the whole of Amaan. We were a little apprehensive as it is very sweet and made with sheep's cheese, dough and pistachio nuts.

The people in the middle east also serve HUGE portions. So we had to try Quanafa in a huge portion. It is also very rude to refuse hospitality..... Luckily I was crazy about it and it id very good. Those trays are huge. When they saw how much I liked it I went to the kitchen to see them make it. The dough (like a crumble but very fine is put in the tray, cheese is then grated on top. This is baked/fried a gas burner till done. Then the tray is flipped over into another tray. (now the cheese is at the bottom and the cooked dough is on top.) Syrup is poured over and pistachio nuts sprinkled on top. You eat it warm and it is very very very good.

LEFT AMAAN TO THE RIVER JORDAN
CHRISTENING SITE OF JESUS CHRIST

This is the christening site of Jesus. It is in the flow of the Jordan river but through time it now only a spring as the river does not flow so strong anymore. Amazing to be able to stand at this site. The area has many churches as well. Christian and catholic and Greek orthodox.

HE RIVER JORDAN WITH ISRAEL ON THE OTHER SIDE

We were the closest we will cone to Israel as we will not gain entry to the UAE again if we have an Israel stamp in our passport......Talk about living on the edge....

hannes and I both had a drink of water from the river as they sell it as holy water. We took ours for free.......Some other tourists did a full christening of themselves in the river as well.

The song that comes to mind is: We are going down to Jordan to walk he heavenly road. This we surely did

After this visit and also going to Mt Nebo where Moses could see the promised land but was not allowed to enter after trekking the desert for 40 years with the Israelites. We could see Jericho in the distance.This is also where Elijah went up to heaven.(we walked a lot as the site is very big) we left for the dead sea.

HANNES AND MYSELF ON OUR WAY TO THE DEAD SEA

The dead sea is 400m below seal level. This chart shows you this. It is not called the dad sea for nothing as nothing lives in it.....

HANNES FLOATING IN THE DEAD SEA

You really float as if a lilo keeps you up. A very strange sensation and the water almost feels soapy. If you turn onto your stomach it feels as if you are going to topple over. The worst is to get a drop of this water in your eye. It burns like hell........ We were many tourist doing the same thing. Floating in the water. It was a little cold as summer is not yet in full swing.

DEAD SEA MUD MASK - FULL BODY

We decided to get a full body dead sea mud mask. You leave it on for 10 to 15 minutes and then wash off in the sea. This mud comes from the sea floor. It is very sticky but not bad. I kept my shoes on in the sea as well as the salt crystals on the sea floor cut your feet. We went back into the sea for the rinse off.......It took ages. When we were done and came out our skin felt like silk
We stayed in a hotel at he dead sea and went for a very lani dinner that evening. As we were having dinner a thunderstorm broke out and it was as if the heavens opened up as it rained very hard. Lots of thunder and lightning and water. felt so familiar..

After breakfast Mohammed, Hannes and myself took to the road again. This time our destination was Petra. About a 5 hour trip. Along the way we passed a the agriculture areas. It is green and lush and full of olive plantations and citrus plantations. The oranges from here are fantastic. Mohammed went out of his way to tell us all abut Jordan and the areas. We also stopped for coffee along the road. Now this is strange number. A man will be along the roadside with his coffee kettle. You stop pay him and he brews you an Arabic coffee. A taste you have to learn to like. It is like espresso with cardamom added. Also sugar is added to your taste before brewing.

PETRA

THE SIQ

Entry to Petra is a huge canyon which was caused by earthquakes many moons ago.....nabatean times. (100AD) Our guide in petra was SAM. He was an archaeologist in Petra but decided to become a guide instead. He says the burocratic system was not good to him....He was very good to have to explain all of petra. 80% of Petra is still buried underground.

The "road" you enter petra with is called a siq. Along the way he showed us the water system used to get water to the whole city. he also explained all the statues along the way and why they were there...

SIQ AND FIRST SIGHT OF PETRA.

This was a wow moment to have this huge stone carved city emerge from the rock.

PETRA. THE TREASURY BUILDING.

Myself and one of the guards. See how warmly I am dressed as it was very very cold that day.

AN INTERESTING BOOK TO READ.

On our stroll in Petra they have the usual tourist traps of goods to sell. I was taken to this stand by Sam our guide. The young man selling the book to me was Raami. He is a Bedouin/Kiwi. His mother (marquerite van geldenmasen a kiwi) married a Bedouin. Ts is her story of how she found he life and what she had to adjust to. I like the idea that he grew up i Petra as a Bedouin and then went to New Zealand to study and is back in Petra living and doing business. His father had died. If any of you can find the book it is a easy read of her life story. I now have a copy signed by her and her son. I enjoyed the read.

MODE OF TRANSPORT IN PETRA

TRANSPORT.

Pera is huge and very steep. We did our fair share of walking and on our return we opted for the donkey ride back to Mohammed. I loved the donkey ride and it was very easy to do. Donkeys are not emotional but very temperamental. "hardegat" is the word that comes to mind. You have to have a very firm hand or you might end up on the the side of Petra if he has his way. Lots of laughs and giggles...........some swearing was done too.

Jordan was fantastic and I must say not a destination I would ever have even thought of to do. Hannes and myself enjoyed it too much. We went for dinner to Mohammed's house on our last night in Jordan. We had some chicken and Jordanian "spinach" dish (not to my taste at all) with rice AND remember it is very offensive and rude to refuse any food or drink offered unless you are allergic........or against your religion. We were stuck. hannes did not find it too bad and even had a second portion of rice to dilute the flavour. I did my best and leaded to full at he offering of second helping. His wife and kids were fantastic and it was good to see a real Jordanian family's life style. Very neat clean and proud.

Arabic word learnt on this trip. (Spelling will not be correct just do it phonetically)

Salaam halikum - Hullo greeting

Halikum Salaam - To greet back.

Habibe - My darling

Hazize - My dear

Mush Mush ikila - say back to person who apologised and means it is ok don't worry

Ghalas - it is finished

Ghalas mei - realy finished

Ghalas bes - finished and not to ask again

hala hala habibe. - Hi my darling

humdillalah - praise to god

Mohammed and his wife(Nebal from Cyria) was an arranged marriage. They are very happy and think it is the only way to go. His mother did all the arrangements for them to meet. They were married shortly after the introduction. They have 4 beautiful kids. Saud (boy) Noordean (boy) Moenera(girl) and Abdullah(boy)

Thank heavens I do not have to do that.....I have my own free choice.

We came back to Dubai and I was pleased to see our city again. Jordan is a little behind the times and not as upmarket and beautiful as Dubai.

I got a sms the next morning to fetch the stuff I had sent with cargo to Dubai.

I DID MY MAIDEN VOYAGE. I took the car by myself and went to the AIRPORT. I took the wrong turn off from the highway and nearly ended in on of the other emirates to turn around. I was still proud of myself as I found my way back and to cargo at the airport........

It took 4 hours to do the paper work and get customs to clear the goods and get my boxes.

Now to next dilemma... Prado.... eish..... too small for all.

MY DELIVRY SERVICE

I saw a pakistani man with this little bakkie and asked him if he will deliver the boxes for me. After a haggle about the price it was agreed. I simply gave him a peice of paper with my address on it and my cell number. he in turn only gave me his regisration number of his bakkie. I did not understand at all.....How can I trust him to deliver the stuff and not take it home?????

I asked the security at the cargo section if it is ok to o it this way. he then told me if I only have his registration number I can find anybody in Dubai as it is all computerised. So here I learn again.

MY GOODS ARRIVED AT HOME

All the small vans in Dubai have this Ornate "cage" for the back of their vans. It is beleived to make the bakkie look nicer and all lok like this. The driver was moanig as he lost his way and wanted more money. I told him no way.... he then got his panty hose in a not and just unloaded all the boxes infront of the lift and left. I then did the taking it up to the 7th floor. What a bleddie job. I just hope I still think all that I sent is worth it after the unpacking.

OUR GUEST BEDROOM.

This bedroom has beccome the temprary storage rom. I will do the unpacking day after tomorrow when hannes goes back to work again. I have get it al done and packed away by next week as we have friends from Oman commng over for 2 nights. he unpacking does not bbother me BUT where on earth am I going to unack it too.......

I again took to the highway by myself and fetched hannes from work. I can now fetch any one of yu at the airport and bring you home..........................

OK ENOUGH

L